Fast Forward-5 countries in 7 days

[M.Thornton]

Left Fleetwood on Friday had a great run to Conwy,fantastic marina,met the Rib-net fishing/camping lads on Saturday off Puffin Island and had a fantastic week-end in some great company and yes it's true Kerny's snoring carries a good 1/4 mile in a following wind! Fantastic "Craic" around the campfire at night ,thanks lads. Left Holyhead on Sunday to meet up with the round Britain Privateers,had a bit of a lumpy crossing but arrived safely in Dun Laoghaire only the discover that the two Targas had broken down .Met up with Jurgen (Bushrider) & Alex (Whisper) and had a great meal in the Purty Kitchen ,the look on Alex's face when he had his first pint of "proper" Guiness was priceless. Now Monday,bit windy but hope to set off soon for Bangor,watch this space!,

[Nick Hearne]

Looks fun, are you sleeping in the engine bay?

[Barrowboy]

Originally Posted by Nick Hearne

Looks fun, are you sleeping in the engine bay?

Looks like a fantastically practical arrangement; warm too.

Must have been good to meet up with your old Osprey too?

[M.Thornton]

Had a great run from Dun Laoghaire to Bangor. Six ribs make an impressive sight going at full chat. Mountains of Mourne really do sweep down to the sea.Had a lovely lunch stop at Portaferry in Strangford lough the tide turbines were up ,very impressive.off to Oban tomorrow

[M.Thornton]

Blue Ray

[M.Thornton]

Black Hawk

[M.Thornton]

Duma.

[M.Thornton]

Kallish

[M.Thornton]

Finn.

[M.Thornton]

Had a fantastic run up the Antrim Coast ,showed the guys the old Victorian walkway on Isle Magee then ran to Redbay to pick up Finn who was having an engine adjustment on his new boat ,the look on Tom's face to see six non-Redbays tied to his jetty was priceless! Next along the coast past Torr Head and across the North channel to Jura.Stopped for lunch at the great little port of Craighouse Alex (Whisper) face lit up when he saw that the pub was next door to the Jura distillery. Then off for a play in Corryvreckan it really put on a show for us but it was'nt for the faint hearted ,it was a case of go hard and pray,but we were all spat out safely on the other side.Then we shot the Grey Dogs and Jurgen(Bushrider) had a grin from ear to ear. Blue Ray was having power steering problems so Fast Forward led the group through Easdale and on to Puffin Divers in Kerrera sound to re-fuel then on to Dunstaffnage Marina at Connell. The next morning we said a sad farewell the the Round Btitain Privateers as they carried on to Fort William.It's such a shame that the two Targas had to play catch up for much of the trip. We had planned to go round Mull,but the weather turned a bit rough so we retraced our route to Redbay,we got a great lee from Jura but the North channel was very lumpy so we called in the Rathlin for a very welcome bowl of soup. Had a great night at Redbay(as usual) Connor Mac insisted on ferrying us off the mooring to save us inflating the dinghy and Tom's daughter took us back the following morning great,great people Then off to our fifth Country The Isle of Man,had a superb run to Peel,but were very frustrated the following morning when we spotted a pod of Killer Wales cruising south off Peel Castle,it was a further two hours before we could lock out and we didn't spot them again, We then pressed on to catch the tide slot into Fleetwood and arrived in good spirits three hours later. We had a fantastic cruise and shared the experience with some great Ribsters I am very privileged to be able to share my passion for the sea with my son Ross who is slowly taking over the skipper role from his ageing dad! The 8.1mtr Scorpian ran like a dream her Yanmar didn't miss a beat and used 730 ltrs off fuel for the 750 mile trip.

[M.Thornton]

Some photos

[MadTubes]

Sounds like another fabulous trip for the Thorton boys! Great to catch up with you briefly on the way past and very impressed with the new member of the family, Fast Forward. Experienced and inspiring ribsters - may there be many more trips like this one! CJ

[kerny]

Great report and pics Mike looks like you have had some great adventures on your ribs and I'm sure that you will have plenty stories to tell your grandkids around the campfire.

[ShinyShoe]

Is my counting wrong?

1. Wales
2. Eire
3. N Ireland
4. Scotland
5. Isle of Man
6. England?

[willk]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Is my counting wrong?

1. Wales
2. Eire
3. N Ireland
4. Scotland
5. Isle of Man
6. England?

Is Waleshire a real country?

[Festinghouse]

great reading mr thornton! was nice to meet you both at holyhead last week, and hope to see you again soon. glad you had a trouble free trip!

[M.Thornton]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Is my counting wrong?

1. Wales
2. Eire
3. N Ireland
4. Scotland
5. Isle of Man
6. England?

Mathematics was never my strongest subject at school,We nearly dropped in and had a pint with the king on Piel Island, that would have made ,err,seven(I think)

[Maximus]

Nice to meet you Guys! and I think the set up aboard "Fast Forward" is Pucker! Glad to hear you Boys had a good Run!.....Thats the way to do it!
Scillies bound this month,and next.. if you can make it.

[M.Thornton]

Launching on Wyre

[M.Thornton]

Black Hawk in Corryvreckan